Class Notes

Class Notes for 1986

And in a flash, 25 years have passed! Although family obligations kept me away, I heard reunion was a smash. Fortunately, Dave Epstein agreed to fill in as guest correspondent with this reunion report. Our class hit a home run with the largest 25th reunion turnout in a decade and more money raised than any other reunion class ever. Jeff and Jen Douglas King accepted the awards for our efforts. Big thanks to everyone who made that possible. Special congratulations to Jane Powers, who finished her stint as trustee and accepted the prestigious Colby Brick Award. To kick off a great weekend, several classmates hit the links for the annual Presidential Golf Tournament at Belgrade Lakes Golf Club, hosted in part by Evan and Sue Roberts Dangel. Others enjoyed a barbecue hosted by Susan Maxwell Reisert and husband Colby Professor Joe Reisert at their Great Pond home. Dave loved meeting up Friday with Cabot Philbrick and Charlie Clippert, as well as Laurent Kosbach, who flew in from Paris. The class gathered Friday at Riverside Farm Market, where Dan MacDonald coordinated an amazing dinner and cocktail hour. Norma Delaney, Mark Burke, Janet Kelley Gjesteby, John Rafferty, Jen Imhoff Foley, Heather Reay Rocheford, and Geoff Alexander were just a few of the 60 or so in attendance. Dinner Saturday was in Cotter Union, where classmates (including Karl Ruping, Karen Mitchell Brandvold, Colette Cote Mayerhoeffer, Jessica Flood Leitz, Lori Burke, Kathleen Hooper Zane, Melanie Megathlin Flaherty, Beth Harrington, Genevieve Hammond, Suzanne Stahl Muir, Doug Parker, Peter Cooke, George Samaras, and wheelchair bound (from a torn Achilles) Jay Allen and his wife, Laurie [Haley ’87], heard Wendy Lapham’s amazing speech. Wendy followed a great recap by Janice Kassman (formerly Seitzinger) of her memories of our time at Colby. More than 30 folks, including Joan Handwerg and Kristin Giblin Lindquist, went to an “over-the-top” brunch Sunday at the home of Tom and Kathleen Pinard Reed on Merrymeeting Bay in Woolwich. Reunions are tough, often thankless, events to plan and pull off: Rich Deering and Suzanne Battit, our co-presidents, and the entire reunion committee spearheaded a flawless weekend. Guy Holbrook, I hope you took lots of notes, as 2016 will be here before you know it. * Harriet Haake Hall loves living in San Diego with constant good weather and the beach 20 minutes away. Harriet is married, has two kids, Garrett, 10, and Isabella, 8, and works part time for an investment manager. Her other jobs include taxi driver, soccer fan, cook, book fair chair, Girl Scout leader, and finder of lost items. She comes east annually for a Nantucket visit with Linda Flight Lull ’85 and Andrea McInnis Leonard. * Andrew Maley says it shouldn’t have been a surprise—but it was—when the kids didn’t stay kids forever. Their oldest, Margot, is looking at colleges, which brought the whole family to Colby for a visit. “Margaret (Davis ’85) and I were awash in groans and teen mockery as we fondly revisited old haunts (‘Dad, I’m sure the waitress would love to know how excited you are to eat at the Last Unicorn again’).” They enjoyed the impressive changes made to campus and appreciated the fact that Colby still seemed like Colby. * Lars and Barb Falcone Smith and daughters had an amazing adventure from February to July in China, where Lars had a Fulbright to teach law. They lived in Wuhan and traveled to Hong Kong, Kunming, Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, and Xi’an and swung by Singapore, Elba, Pisa, and Milan on the way home. They say, “We would do it all again but are thrilled to be back in Louisville!” * Jeanne Choquette Radvany broke her leg playing tennis the weekend before reunion and had to cancel. She was working hard at PT hoping to recover enough to enjoy a planned trip to Berlin, Prague, Vienna, and Budapest with husband Dave and Rachel, 12, and Andy, 9. * Nancy Norris Gould’s oldest child, Sam, started at Indiana University this fall studying sports management. Daughter Morgan spent the summer in Israel on a leadership training and community service program and is a junior in high school. * While Chris Engstrom and I didn’t make reunion, we had a mini-reunion on our patio in July with Eric Pendleton (who works at Citizens Bank in Boston and helps runs Garside’s Ice Cream with his mom in Saco, Maine) and Kathy Reynolds Dunn (who lives with husband Doug in Connecticut, where she teaches French at Kingswood-Oxford School). A night of many laughs and the warmth of being with dear friends. I wish you many happy moments like these in the months ahead!